


What Kind of Magic is this?

by Robaroo72



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M, Near Death, almost dead, but not really, im so done with myself, like it's supernatural kind of dead, then dead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 07:43:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8836147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Robaroo72/pseuds/Robaroo72
Summary: Magic is not uncommon in this world. In fact, everyone has a touch of it. Dan Howell is an eighteen year old boy who holds one of the strongest magic at his fingertips. Unfortunately, when he would use the full strength of this magic, he falls ill and would dance on the edge of death. He has only ever used this strength one, for a childhood friends he believes has long forgotten him. Phil Lester is a twenty year old boy who holds a special kind of magic at his fingertips. The kind of magic that brings life to that which has lost it. He never falls ill from uses it, fortunately, because it's not his strength of magic, it's just the variety of it. No one knows that they hold these abilities, because if someone knew, they would be manipulated into using them for their own selfish reasons. What happens when they meet for what they believe is the first time?





	1. The Kind that Takes Your Breath Away

**Author's Note:**

> -My depictions of certain sexualities are just what I've gathered from the internet. Please do not hate me if what I've written does not apply to how it really is, it's just from my observation and eternal roaming on the internet.  
> -please don't comment on what colour Phil's hair actually is, because from some research and some photos it's light brown to me just go with it pls pls pls pls pls thank you; the whole story is serious but goddamn sometimes I just let my brain do weird things and you will know when my brain farted in the story have fun

_\----------twelve years ago----------_

_~ **Dan** ~_

"C'mon Danny! You have to hurry otherwise it'll be over." Dan heard Phil plead from all the way at the top of the hill.

Dan started running towards Phil, his breathing quickening with each step. All together, he had ran thirteen steps but it was more than enough for Dan to lose his breath. But he kept going, thirteen steps became twenty, then he was beside Phil's side. Phil just smiled at Dan, then pointed at the sun that was beginning to set. 

Dan looked towards the sunset, taking in everything. The darkness that crept in around the end of the sun's rays, the beautiful mix of blue and purples behind the clouds, the sun as it was waving its last goodbye, and most importantly the sparkle in Phil's eyes. Dan was always mesmorised by Phil's eyes. He's never seen such a bright blue, as if the ocean and the sky sacrificed pieces of themselves for Phil to hold.

Dan turned to look at Phil, who was still looking at the sun, or what was left of it as the blues and purples became darker and darker until the only light in the sky was the moon, hidden behind clouds. He frowned, and Dan noticed right away. 

"What's wrong, Philly?" Dan asked, confused. "Haven't you had a great day? We did so much together, I think we have a few more minutes left until we have to go home, don't we?"

Dan wished Phil didn't have to leave. He kept asking Phil why he was going, but it seemed Phil didn't know the answer either. They both wanted to know, but were too afraid to ask. So they both suffered in what remained of the unanswered and unspoken questions.

"Oh, I had a wonderful day, Danny. It was one of the best days of my life. It's just... I kinda wanted to relax and stare at the stars like how we met, remember?" Phil said, laying down on his back, staring at the starless sky.

Of course Dan remembered. Dan could never forget. He smiled to himself as he remembered the event playing out. 

 

_Dan's back pressed into the ground as he tried to count the stars in the sky, he was up to 59. That's when Phil came over, and so rudely interrupted him._

_"Are you trying to count the stars?" Phil asked, and Dan remembered how curiosity filled the words, instead of bitterness._

_"How did you know?"_

_"You were counting out loud." Phil replied with a smile, then he laid down beside Dan._

_"Oh, I didn't realise." Dan whispered._

_He didn't lose count, but he lost which star he was up to and unfortunately had to start counting again. He reached 59 again before Phil asked him another question._

_"Why are you counting the stars?" The same tone of curiosity weaved itself into his words._

_Dan's mind went to his school friend, Pj, who didn't have magic. He was jealous of Dan, but he soon found his magic in a different way._

_"People say that those without magic find some in the stars. So I want to see how many wishes are held in the night sky." Dan answered._

_There was a pause, and all Dan could hear were the grasshoppers and cicadas hiding in the grass that surrounded them. Then the boy spoke, "You're smart. How old are you anyway?"_

_"Six." He paused. "And thank you."_

_"Holy moly," Phil said, astounded by this information. However, Dan was taken aback by his response, unsure of how to respond._

_"Why? How old are you?" Dan asked, trying to hold back any uncertainty that may have seeped into his voice._

_"Eight. And I've never heard someone talk about the night sky like that."_

_Dan blushed, but didn't respond._

_A few minutes passed, and Dan was up to 59 yet again until Phil asked another question. "What's your name?"_

_"Um, Dan. Yours?"  He was no longer looking at the stars in the sky, but at the boy who was laying next to him._

_"Hi, Dan. My name's Phil." Phil turned and smiled at Dan. "_ _Let's be friends?"_

_"I think I'd like that."_

 

And Dan really did.

In the next few months, they met each other at the park at the top of the hill every night, regardless of whether it was a school night or not. They became inseperable, and Dan believed Phil was more of a friend than Pj was. If anything, they were best friends. Dan held onto that thought.

"Of course I remember. I wish the clouds weren't there either." Dan said, wondering why in a world of magic, even some things were too far to reach.

"I can try to do it, but my magic is weak." Phil said, looking into the dark night upon them. "I'm going to try."

Phil stood up, and Dan watched as he closed his eyes and relaxed. Phil began to glow slightly. Then all of the light started to move from his body to his fingertips. His fingertips held his wishes, his magic, his hopes and his dreams. That's what magic was. It was a physical accumulation of all of these things. Then Phil slowly opened his eyes and smiled as he looked up into the starless sky and put his hands up, propelling all of the magic from his fingertips into the sky. The lights were a steady stream, but then they began to break and drift apart from each other.

Then all that was left were fireflies.

An eight year old trying to change the weather seemed like something out of a story, and unfortunately it was.

"I guess fireflies are like stars." Phil said. Dan could hear the disappointment in his voice, and he knew it was all over his face as well.

"I can try." Dan said, grabbing onto the small amount of hope Phil had left. 

Phil laid down on the ground and watched Dan as he repeated the same actions as Phil did. Dan thought about all of the good times he had with Phil. The laughter that silenced the park as they told each other funny stories and hilarious jokes, the way Phil smiled brightly even if it was about something Dan thought was silly, and the way Pj and Phil clicked together as easily as Dan did. Then he began to think about the way the stars look like without clouds covering them, the exact way they looked like that many months ago when he first met Phil, he began to remember each detail, the twinkle of each star as they shone brightly, their white core accompanied by the small coat of midnight blue only to be met with the darkness. Dan slowly opened his eyes as he felt his magic, his light, move from everywhere in his body to his fingertips. This is the moment Dan realised he had never used his magic for something this important and this big before. Dan looked into the starless sky, and began to think about how wrong it looked without stars. He thought that a night sky without stars was like Phil's face with freckles and the thought made him uneasy. He raised his fingertips to the night sky and felt the magic leave his fingertips in a strong steady flow, and Dan believed it wouldn't end. 

Then it did, and the clouds disappeared and Dan and Phil's eyes were met with a million stars in the sky waving hello to them.

"Dan..." Phil whispered. "Your magic... It's incredibly strong." 

Dan smiled as Phil continued to star into the night sky. Dan stared at it too afterwards. For some reason this night sky meant more to him than the one they had on the night they met. This one was one he gave as a parting gift to Phil, and even if he couldn't get the words out to tell him it was a gift, the twinkle in Phil's eyes was thank you enough.

Dan felt a strong happiness, joy and excitement coursed through his veins. He, a six year old, had realised he had stronger magic than almost everyone else his age, and maybe even the world.

But then that happiness turned into bile he felt at the bottom of his throat.

"Ph-Phil..." Dan sputtered out. 

He felt his body go cold, and the wind that started to blow had no part in it. His shaking fingers reached out to Phil who seemed to be frozen in fear. Dan fell to his knees, holding on to his stomach. He felt like he was going to vomit himself inside out, but nothing came out no matter how much it tried to. This was torture to the six year old boy, and this type of pain was unbearable. He looked up again to Phil, and he realised his hearing had cut out because Phil seemed to be trying to talk to him, trying to calm him down, but none of his words reached Dan's eardrums. 

"H-Help... Pl...ease..." Dan tried to say.

He looked up at the sky, the blurry stars started to fold over and merge, swirling themselves to become some sort of abnormal moon. What he saw showed no resemblance to the night sky he had seen not longer than five minutes ago. His head began to pound and this is the moment he believed he was going to die. So he stopped trying to fight it and he let the pain consume it. After all, what would a six year old mind know about handling pain that seemed haunting for a twenty six year old buff man. Dan felt arms around him, the fingers gripping the back of his shirt as if he didn't want to let go. 

Dan didn't want him to let go.

Dan felt vibrations, similar to that of a voice. How strongly Dan wanted to be able to hear what Phil was trying to say. But the more he tried to concentrate, the pounding of his rapid heartbeat grew stronger. Dan looked up at the sky, the freakish version of beauty, and tried to look for magic in the stars that were meshed up together. He tried to look for answer, then he asked for help.

Then Dan felt it. It was like the night sky had fallen down and surrounded Dan. The magic he was looking for in the stars had come down and held Dan in a bittersweet embrace. He wondered if the 59th star was that burning comforting sensation he could feel on his forehead. But then the darkness had fully enveloped him, and Dan wondered if he would wake up to Phil, or to heaven.

~ **Phil** ~

The night sky was beautiful. More beautiful than I remember it being on the day Dan and I first met. The stars seemed to shine a little bit brighter, and the dark was a little bit more darker. The moon still stayed there, watching over her children as they waved to the people down on Earth. He couldn't jump to conclusions, but he believed the night sky was just that little bit more perfect because Dan had made it that way.

Dan is Phil's best friend and Phil couldn't think of anyone else that could come close. Not his school mate Chris, or Dan's school mate Pj. It was Dan, and Dan only. The ultimate friendship, and he was so eternally grateful for it. Phil stared at the night sky in awe, but keeping Dan in his peripheral vision. 

"Dan..." Phil whispered. "Your magic... It's incredibly strong." 

Dan smiled at Phil, and Phil could see Dan's blush of embarassment but Dan's eyes were filled with wonder once they were focused on the world above us.

They stayed like that, perfect. It was almost too perfect to be true, and unfortunately, it was. 

"Ph-Phil..." Dan sputtered out.

Phil saw Dan's face be struck with disgust and pain. He gagged and Phil froze in fear. Had they eaten something bad during their whole day together? The wind began to blow harshly at the two. Phil opened his mouth to shout at the wind, telling it to stop because it was making his friend cold.

But Phil saw the shaking in Dan's fingers as they reached out to him. "Dan? Hey, you gotta relax okay? What's wrong? What's happening?" He asked Dan.

Phil watched as Dan grimaced in pain, his head hanging low. Then Dan's head head looked up at Phil and Dan's eyes were on Phil, but Phil could see the distant look in them.

He kept talking. "Dan, hey, look at me. Focus on me. You gotta breathe. Breathe in," Phil breathed in and edged Dan to copy him, but he didn't. Dan's pupils contracted in fear. Could Dan not hear him anymore?

"H-Help... Pl...ease..." Dan sputtered out again, it came out hoarse and breathless, as if it took all of Dan's effort to say.

Dan was now on the floor, kneeling in front of Phil's sitting body. Phil decided to kneel too. He watched as Dan gripped his stomach, and breathless groans of pain came out of his mouth. He touched Dan's cheek and realised he had been crying in pain. Oh god, what was Phil going to do. Phil watched Dan tilt his head back, the weight almost snapping his neck. In fear, he hugged Dan, his fingers gripping the back of his shirt so tightly he could feel them turn into a paler shade of white he already was. He didn't know what to do, after all, he was just a small eight year old who just wanted to see the stars in the night sky on the last night in London. It wasn't supposed to end like this, not like this. Phil wouldn't accept it.

"I'm going to carry you, okay, Dan? I won't let you go." Phil said into Dan's shoulder. 

Phil loosened his grip around Dan, and also fainted himself when he saw Dan's eyes were closed. If he didn't know any better, he would've thought he was sleeping. That's when Phil remembered something important, when he's in pain, his mother would kiss the pain away. So that's what he did. He didn't know where to kiss, so he placed a small quick kiss on Dan's forehead. It must have worked, even a small bit, because Dan stopped gritting his teeth together in his unconscious state.

His arms wrapped around Dan again, and he realised Dan had now fully relaxed, no more strain in his muscles. He had passed out, and Phil's worry had sky rocketed. He held Dan and began walking towards Dan's house which, thankfully, was only a two minute walk from the park. It was getting down the hill which was the hard part, but Phil didn't realise he had overcome the obstacle until he was at the front door of the Howell's house.

He knocked rapidly, urgently and impatiently. His arms were going to give out, after all, Dan was just a few centimetres shorter than Phil was, and that was with two years difference. The door opened, and Dan's mother smiled down for only a fraction of a second as she discovered her son limp and deathly pale in the arms of the boy he never shut up about.

"Dear, call the ambulance. Now." She screamed to her husband, who without question, started calling them.

Dan's father soon came to the door, and tried to gather what was happening, he spoke what he saw into the phone that was pressed against his voice. Phil's voice was lost somewhere between his vocal chords and his mouth, and no matter how much he tried to explain what had happened, his voice wasn't heard. 

Dan's mother took her son from Phil's arms and cradled him like a mother would always do to lull their child to sleep, except this time Dan was already asleep. Phil just watched as everything happened around him. He looked at the time on the clock that hung behind the chaos. He noted he was supposed to be home now, but he didn't want to be anywhere except for Dan's side.

The ambulance took Dan away only what felt like moments later. Phil was still stood in the doorsteps of the house, only moving a step to the side for the paramedics to get to Dan. Phil's mind seemed to cut him out, only seeing the scenes in front of him unfolding like two frames per second instead of a steady movement. It drove him insane, but he was still frozen in every emotion he could handle.

Then he was faced with the silence. Oh god, the silence. It was worse than the crying from Dan's mum, and the sad and terrified expressions on the dad, the paramedics' eyes filled with determination but he saw a glint of sadness, as if Dan was a goner. The silence was much worse than that, because it meant he was going to be faced with his thoughts. And all his thoughts told him was that it was his fault, even if nothing pointed to it. His thoughts would always find some way of pinning it on him.

Phil didn't know he was crying until Dan's dad was shaking him from the trance he didn't know he was in. 

"Phil, hey, c'mon. We gotta go." Dan's dad said, holding Phil's hand.

Phil looked at him in confusion, and with a croaky voice he asked, "Where?"

"The hospital. You're going to have to tell me what happened on the way there. Mum's gone into the ambulance with him." He said, as he got into the car. 

Phil nodded and put on his seatbelt. Dan's dad asked a bunch of questions, and Phil gave him the answers he needed. Phil didn't notice the tension in the way Dan's dad was gripping the steering wheel until they were almost there. 

"What's wrong?" Phil asked, partly afraid to ask such an obvious question.

"Dan's going to make it, I know he will. But you can't tell anyone that he used his magic like that, okay, Phil? I've never heard of someone's magic that strong, and if everyone found out, they'd make him do them favours. If they do that, then he'd die." Dan's dad kept his eyes on the road, and Phil keps his eyes on him, trying to find a reply. Then he found one.

"Why is he going to die?" 

"You're how old again?"

"Eight." 

"Okay. Yeah, alright. Okay." Dan's dad said, more to himself than to Phil who was watching the whole thing. Phil couldn't imagine the stress he was feeling, but he knew it was more than what Phil was feeling now, and that was a lot. Dan's dad began speaking again. "When those with magic use their magic, it takes a toll on the person. If their magic is strong, it will make the person really sick. I can't believe Dan tried to clear a whole night sky at six years old... My god."

"He didn't try to. He did it. Look at the sky, sir."

Dan's dad kept quiet, but Phil saw his eyes flicker upwards to the sky. 

That was the end of the conversation, and they sat there in silence. 

The hospital was in view, and they had parked in the appropriate place. Dan's dad speed walked to the counter and asked for Dan's room. Phil kept quiet, unsure of what he could help with. If anything, Phil felt that he wasn't supposed to be there, but the stayed, knowing he'd see Dan soon.

"Bed two thousand and twenty two in room five hundred and four." The lady said, and they ran towards the elevator.

They reached the room in under a minute, and Phil saw Dan's mum crying as she was staring into the window. Phil braced himself for the worst, and he couldn't help but apologise once he reached Dan's mum.

She only kneeled down and hugged him. Her tears were staining Phil's shirt but he didn't mind it because he did the same to her. He didn't realise he had kept it in for so long, all of the emotions that drowned him like a tidal wave, now showed in Dan's mum's shirt. 

"Thank you, Phil." She said to him. "You saved him."

And even though his mind told him it was a lie, he believed her.

They all looked into the window of Dan's room, and Phil's mental preparation wasn't enough. The curly brown hair of his best friend was dripping with sweat, like the fact that Dan's breathing was a workout for him, not to mention having to be helped as there was a face mask over his nose and mouth. Phil wanted to vomit. Only less than an hour ago, they were watching the sunset and were talking about they didn't want to leave.

"Dan...?" Phil whispered in to the window, fogging up the window and causing Dan's image to be covered in mist.

"Let's go in, okay?" Dan's dad asked them, and everyone nodded in response.

"Okay." Dan's mum said, her voice shakey but had a touch of confidence in it.

Dan's dad opened the door, and Phil walked in first, forgetting his manners for only a moment. When he turned around to apologise for his rudeness, Dan's parents had always rushed to Dan's side, one parent holding each limp hand of Dan. Phil felt like he was intruding a family moment, like he was meant to capture the moment by painting it or drawing it. 

Phil watched as time went by, a minute into an hour, and an hour into three. Dan's mum rang Phil's parents to tell them where he was. They knew he was leaving tomorrow, so they knew he'd want to stay with Dan even more. Of course, Phil's parents understood and asked that Dan's parents would drop him off at their place tomorrow morning. They happily obliged. 

Dan's parents decided to leave Phil with Dan alone as they wanted to grab something to eat, they asked Phil if he wanted anything, but he politely declined. He still felt the vomit at the bottom of his throat whenever he looked over at Dan and he's vulnerable state.

When he was alone with Dan, Phil got up and sat next to him. He didn't know what to do. He just stared at Dan, counting the strands of hair that were out of place from his curls. Then Phil grabbed his hands and started inspecting the fingertips, trying to figure out how he could hold such strong magic. There were no answers in Dan's nails though, and Phil couldn't help but feel disappointed. 

Then he held Dan's hand and tried starting a conversation. "You have to be careful out here, Dan. Your dad says your magic is strong and it could kill you." Phil waited for a response he knew he wasn't going to get. 

"I don't want you to die, Dan... I want you to stay here." Phil whispered, trying not to cry.

"I wish I could stay here, Dan." His voice grew quieter and quieter.

"I don't want to leave, Dan." His voice was as loud as a mouse, and tears started threatening to fall.

"Not when you're like this, Dan." He sputtered out, choking on a sob.

"There's no goodbye's said when I'm leaving, Dan." His voice was inaudible now.

"Maybe if there's no goodbye's, I'm not really leaving." He mouthed to himself. 

Phil saw the pen and paper that was placed on the desk beside Dan, slowly, he leaned over and grabbed them. With shakey hands he began to write, it was short and straight to the point. He didn't know what else to say and have it fit into the small piece of paper they had. It angered Phil, but he didn't know what else to do. He was signing his name at the bottom of the paper, ready to write his last name until the dreadful noise of a heart monitor's monotonous tone replaced the rhythm he was beginning to get used to. The monotonous note struck fear in his mind similar to when gunshot sounds hit his eardrums. 

Dan was dying.

Phil dropped the pen and paper before he could finish signing it off, and instantly leaned over Dan. 

"Dan? Hey, c'mon, Dan. Don't.. Don't scare me like this. Start laughing again like you were before." Phil started shaking Dan's body. Trying to get him to wake up.

Phil took a step back from Dan's limp body. He closed his eyes, and tried to think of happy thoughts. The tears from his eyes started to evaporate as the smiles and the laughter he shared with Dan came into mind. The way Dan's hair curled more on the humid days, he's jealousy of Phil's hair that always ended up with them laughing about how their hair would look like in the future, he thought of the way Dan's brown eyes would always look at things with wonder and awe, like the world was an endless supply of discoveries. Then Phil began to think of Dan's heartbeat going back to its original pace, one of life and existence. He could feel his magic move from his body and gather into his fingertips. He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze so focused on Dan's lifeless body, he didn't realise Dan's parents stood at the doorway. Phil pointed his fingertips towards Dan, and he watched as his magic was not a steady stream of lights, but instead, it was wispy. It had multiple streams of lights, they had an airy feeling to it and they encircled Dan's body. The lights worked their way around Dan's body, a slow but steady rhythm began to form as the light started glowing in the rhythm of the heartbeat Dan once had. The lights surrounded Dan, and then moved inwards. They entered Dan's body, and like a miracle, the heart monitor stopped singing the awful monotonous sound and was replaced with a normal heartbeat.

Phil smiled at Dan, noticing how his breathing was not jagged anymore, but instead a proper breathing pattern. He noticed how Dan's forehead wasn't dripping with sweat either. He felt like he had accomplished something, even if it was small and nothing compared to Dan's ability to clear the night sky just for him.

"Phil? Are you feeling okay?" 

He turned his head quickly towards Dan's mum, and nodded, smiling at himself. 

"Are you sure? You're not going to faint right?" 

This is when Phil nodded in confusion. 

"No, why would I faint?" He asked, his voice dripping with curiosity and a tinge of fear.

"I've never heard of anyone having the ability to give something life..." 

Phil's face drained of colour. He could feel himself grow cold, but in a fear kind of way. 

"I don't feel like I'm going to be ill though." He commented after a few seconds passed.

Dan's parents sighed in relief and began calling Phil's parents. They had to let them know about his abilities.

Phil walked over and picked up the paper he had written on, but he couldn't find the pen. He read the note over and over again, a little angry at how he couldn't sign his full name on the bottom of the note. 

He put the letter on the table beside Dan, and slowly he drifted into sleep in the chair beside Dan. He forgot that Dan's parents were in the same room, so he didn't realise his hand was holding on to Dan's until sleep had overpowered him.

**~Dan~**

It was three days after Phil had left when Dan woke up. His parents were beside him, sleeping soundly. He tried to speak, but his mouth was so dry and his tongue felt like a dried up sponge.

He tried to say, "Mum," but instead it came out as, "Murrrhhh." It was quiet and hoarse, but it was enough to wake up his parents.

"Dan? Dan!" His parents said in sync.

Dan tried to talk again, but it came out hoarse and croaky as it did before. He had no saliva to swallow, no tears to well up in his eyes. Dan's mum quickly fumbled around and got a bottle of water out of her bag. She helped Dan drink, being as gentle and as caring as a mother was. Dan's dad held onto his hands, it wasn't tight but it was firm, ready to hug him and hold him close if anyone tried to touch him. 

Dan felt like something was missing, however. But he couldn't put his finger on it. Then a flash of bright blue eyes and straight light brown hair came through his mind, accompanied by flashes of stars in the sky and freckles on a face. 

"Where's Phil?" His voice was quiet and strangled, but it was more audible than it was before.

He saw the look his parents gave each other, then the little nod. "He left three days ago."

Dan sprung up in shock and sadness. Had he been sleeping for three days? It felt like it was only a few hours. That's when he realised he was in a hospital bed, the plain creamy coloured walls were caving in and making Dan feel a little uneasy.

"We didn't get to say goodbye..." Dan said to no one in particular.

Then he saw the smile on his mum's face grow wider. He raised his eyebrow in confusion. He watched her as she reached for a piece of paper on his bedside table and gave to him to read.

The handwriting was shakey, it seemed uncertain. But he didn't complain, it was a lot better than his own writing. He began reading, and with each word his heart held sadness and happiness at the same time. What a bittersweet ending to what was only a chapter of their story.

"Dear Dan,

I hope you're feeling better soon! You've been such a good friend. I bet you're thinking about our nonexistent goodbyes, but I think that's for the best. Goodbye is such a sad word, it's as if we'll never see each other again. But I think we will. So take this instead, 

Until next time, Dan.

From Phil"

_\----------Present Day------------_

~ **Dan** ~

Twelve years later and Dan isn't even close to forgetting the bright blue eyes and the light brown hair, the pale skin painted with freckles, and the smile that seemed to put the sun to shame. He had tried to look for him, but going off a simple and common name, not having any other information besides a simple note, and being only six years old, the task was impossible. He tried for the next four years of his life, not once stopping to realise he still had other friends who, even though they couldn't fill the void that Phil had left, could lessen it. He gave up at the age of ten. It wasn't because he gave up on Phil, no not at all, he just gave up on letting it change his life. He knew in that later it said, "Next time," and that was enough for Dan to go on.

Dan's eighteen now, and he's waiting patiently in line at his favourite coffee shop. It's a small coffee shop, but the atmosphere and the serenity is just at the perfect balance for Dan's life. Hell, even the name of the shop is perfect, "Expresso yourself."

Dan didn't think Manchester would be as busy as it was, but Dan knew it could be busier if he jinxed it, so he stopped thinking about it. The line became shorter and shorter, and soon Dan was at the register, ordering himself a caramel macchiato.

The girl at the register smiled at him and then gave a cheeky wink, in which Dan only responded to by ignoring. He got his receipt as he waited for his drink, and saw that he was customer number fifty eight, only one off his favourite number. Dan mentally cursed himself, coming to the conclusion that it was going to be a bad day. He glared at the person who was ordering now, the 59th customer. He took note of the straight black hair and the pale skin, the blue eyes that are dull and tired, and the freckles on his face that seem to be harsh dabs of paint instead of the soft freckles he only knew in his memory.

He must've zoned out in a glare because the lady at the register tapped him on the shoulder and gave an irritated smile as he said thank you. Just as he started to walk away from the counter, the black haired man moved too quick to take his place and Dan lost his grip on his caramel macchiato. Dan was already tearing up, don't judge him, it's a caramel macchiato.

But the caramel macchiato never hit the floor. Instead, the caramel macchiato was frozen in mid air. The caramel macchiato was saved, but Dan didn't know how the caramel macchiato was frozen, but he remembered that magic still existed. Despite him having the strongest magic, Dan still wasn't good at reflexes, therefore not being able to save his caramel macchiato. However, his caramel macchiato was held frozen in mid air by the black haired man he was glaring at only moments before. The man moved forward and grabbed the glass and captured all of the caramel macchiato while still frozen in mid air, and then gave it to Dan. "Caramel macchiato..." Was all that Dan could think. He stared at the man in shock, he noticed the half smile on his face, despite holding out the heaven that was a caramel macchiato. "My caramel macchiato," Dan said, still frozen in shock at how fast the man acted. The man only nodded, and continued to hold out the caramel macchiato in front of him.

Dan took the drink, and thanked him, still in shock and awe. The lady at the counter called out customer 59, and the man in front of Dan moved and got his drink. Guess what it was, yep, a caramel macchiato.

The man stepped away from the counter quickly, and came up to Dan. With a soft and genuine smile, he swapped their drinks.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Dan asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

He looked at his hand, the one holding a new caramel macchiato instead of the one that froze in mid air and got all muddled up while returning back to the drink.

"I'm giving you a new one. It was my fault your became the way it is, so here's my apology." The man said.

"Oh, thank you..." Dan trailed off, hinting to the fact he had no idea what his name was.

"My name's Phil. Yours?" He started walking.

Dan decided to walk beside him, hoping he wasn't intruding on anything but the way he asked a question and started walking without an answer made Dan feel like he needed to be beside him.

"My name is Dan." He said with a smile.

Maybe even though he's the customer one before his lucky number, he could still have a good day. Phil sat on a table beside the window, not too close but not too far away from the front door and the bathroom. Dan sat across from him.

"So what are you doing in a small coffee shop like this, Dan?" Phil asked, sipping from his mixed caramel macchiato.

"I'm just seeing if there's a place that hasn't been touched by the magic. Some people don't live with magic in their bodies, so I wanted to see if I could fit in a world like that." Dan replied, looking at the wall behind Phil, but keeping him in his peripheral vision.

"Woah, how old are you anyway?"

Dan held back a laugh, thinking that for some reason this felt like a weird version of deja vu. As if something like this has happened before, but Dan couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"I'm eighteen." Dan said, curiosity finding it's way into his voice.

"Holy moly." Phil said, smiling sadly.

"Why? How old are you?" He asked, his voice was joking but it came out as if he wanted to pick a fight.

"I'm twenty, and it's just I've never heard someone talk about small coffee shops like that."

Dan blushed, but didn't respond.

"Hey, Dan. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't like talking about magic, do you?"

Dan sighed, and nodded sadly.

"Why?"

"Because when people without magic don't need to worry about stupid little things, I get jealous of them. God, I'm terrible with fucking jealousy. I just want to be able to live life without having to worry about magic." Dan said, his voice low, but filled with anger.

Phil sat quietly, and Dan was worried he crossed a line with his little rant.

"You're right. But sometimes it does come in handy, like just then."

Dan huffed in annoyance. "You're right. But if you didn't have magic, I could've just bought another one. The world can live without magic, it's not like anyone can bring things from the dead or make the world spin the other way. Magic is so small, we don't need it."

"You're right." Phil replied quietly.

Dan didn't notice that Phil flinched at his second last sentence. Phil didn't notice that Dan started tearing up because he knew he could make the world spin the other way.

"Hey, Dan?" Phil said after some silent minutes went by.

"Yeah, Phil?"

"Let's be friends?" Dan felt a rush of memories come back to him. His mind fizzled out, trying to connect all the dots together. But the dots didn't connect, the brown hair from before was now deep black, the blue eyes that held the sky and the ocean now only held the wilting petals of a delphinium volker friesen flower, and the smile wasn't the same as it was before. But Dan held onto some hope that maybe, just maybe, this is the Phil he spent four years looking for.

"I think I'd like that." Dan replied, hoping that maybe something would click in Phil's mind too.

"Awesome. But let's make a deal, we can't talk about magic. Let's be friends based on our personalities, not our magic. Deal?"

Dan's hope completely fizzled out. The Phil back then loved talking about magic, he practiced a lot of magic with Dan. But the Phil in front of him didn't want to talk about magic, or even know what Dan could do. This wasn't the Phil Dan needed, but maybe for now it would be enough.

"Deal."

**~Phil~**

Something about this whole situation brought back memories of a similar person so many years ago. Phil's memory was vague, but it wouldn't shake off that maybe they've met before. Phil remembered a boy, younger than him, full of life and full of energy, a smart boy who didn't seem interested in the things other people were. The Dan in front of him drinking a caramel macchiato resembled the Dan he knew years ago.

But Phil wasn't sure if it was really him. After all, the last time he saw him was on a hospital bed, almost dead. In fact, he died, and Phil somehow gave life to Dan whereas no one could, not matter how strong their magic was. It was an unbearable weight upon an eight year old boy, but Phil didn't care, he wondered how Dan would be if, no, when he woke up.

Phil remembered his parents crying when they picked him up on from the hospital that morning after everything happened. He remembered the doctors talking about a six year old boy not making it another week, the sinking feeling in his stomach, his hope dwindling into almost nothing, but he looked back to Dan, watching his chest rise and fall. Even if it was small, it was still something, and it gave Phil everything.

However, that Dan couldn't be the one in front of him. He went back to London after moving, and met a lot of Dans along the way. Back then, he cursed at how common the name Dan was, but he soon accepted it and knew that one day the Dan he needed back would come back one day. But today wasn't that day, no matter how much Phil wanted it to be.

He decided not to bring his hope up, because if he did that, then he would be beyond disappointed.

Either way, if this Dan was his Dan then everything would work out, but if it wasn't, Phil still finally had a friend who wouldn't ask about his magic.

Phil looked at the clock that hung on the wall above the coffee maker, and stood up quickly. His mind raced quickly with ten thousand thoughts, but then realised it was a Sunday and he had no reason to freak out.

"Are you okay? Do you need to be somewhere right now?" Dan asked, concern written all over his face.

Phil sat down and smiled gently at Dan. "Uh, no. I just thought I had to be at work just then but it's not a working day so it'll be okay. Sorry about that, sometimes I forget the days."

Phil leaned his head against the window and sighed, fogging up the window and watching it turn back into nothing.

"What do you work as?" Dan asked.

Phil turned to look at Dan and excitement coursed through Phil's veins. "I work in a plant store just down the road from here. It's absolutely amazing. I love plants, did you know? Of course you didn't, you just met me. But there you go, I love plants."

Phil watched as Dan's face didn't change from his resting face, which seemed a little sad, but it soon changed and Dan's smile shone through. "I can tell you love plants. Haha what are you, plantsexual?"

Phil laughed at the pun. "No, but I am pansexual though so... close."

"Oh, cool. Now I'm going to make a lot of plant jokes around you so be prepared." Dan said, getting his phone out and tying something Phil couldn't see.

"What about you?"

"I'm demisexual, I guess. I'm not all for labels though, but while browsing through the internet I found this word that maybe could define me." Dan said, keeping his eyes on his phone.

"I'm sorry, but what's demisexual?"

Dan laughed a little, then put his phone down to look at Phil properly. "It's where I don't feel any sexual attraction to anyone until I've established a very strong emotional bond. But even then, I might not be willing to participate in... intimate acts... but I'll still feel some sort of liking towards that person I have that bond with. It might be confusing, but it made sense to me and I could relate to those words."

"I see. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you need friendship before romance, right?" Phil struggled to find the proper words he wanted to say, but decided these words sufficed.

"Yeah, in a way. Even so, that romance might just be that, romance. No other things. Anyway, I've got this site filled with plant puns so be prepared."

Phil groaned, but straightened his back to get ready. "Alright. Do your best."

"My fear of roses is a thorny issue." Dan paused. "I don't know where it stems from, but it seems like I'll be stuck with it."

Phil bit back a chuckle, and instead gave Dan a face that said, "really?"

Dan smiled goofily, and continued on. He burst out laughing after reading one and started talking again. "Would you like to grow mushrooms in your garden?"

Phil sighed and said a very fake, "No."

"Why not? They're known for being fungis."

"Dan."

"They wouldn't take up mush room."

"Dan please."

"In fact," Dan stopped for tension.

"Da-"

"They'd be no truffle at all."

Phil froze for half a second, then stood up and grabbed his drink and started walking away.

"Phiiiiiiil, wait up." Dan shouted from across the shop.

Phil knew it was a small little coffee shop, but the people that occupied it made it so much longer to find your way out of. However, Phil left at the right moment where there was a clear path, then he turned slightly behind him and saw Dan struggling to find his way out of the crowd. One part of him felt sad and wanted to go over and help, the other decided to just let him stay there. After all, there's no point in Phil going over to help Dan only to be caught in an even tighter situation.

So Phil just watched and waited outside the coffee shop. He didn't expect the night sky to be waving at him so quickly, but he didn't mind. He loves the night sky, ever since he was young he was entranced by it. He started counting the stars in his mind, connecting imaginary lines in between each numbered star.

"Phil, you're horrible." He heard Dan say after a few minutes.

"Aw, thank you." Phil said with a smirk.

"Woah..." Dan said, his eyes looking at the night sky.

Phil looked into Dan's eyes as they studied the night sky intensely. A tidal wave of more memories collapsed onto Phil. There was no denying it, maybe, just maybe, this actually was the Dan he needed.

"Y'know, someone a long time ago told me that people who don't have magic look for some wishes in the stars." Phil said slowly, letting each word be processed with full concentration for both Dan and Phil.

"Really? I've heard it too, from a friend way back in Wokingham. He doesn't have magic, the lucky bastard." Dan said, still looking into the sky.

"Yeah?" Phil moved his eyes from Dan's face and back to the stars that twinkled above.

"Yeah."

Phil didn't know that he stopped counting at the 59th star, by being interrupted by Dan's greeting. Phil didn't know that his 59th star is the star that Dan, too, gets lost in every night. They didn't know that at that moment, despite there being millions of different stars, they seemed to be focused on the exact same one.

They looked for the magic that this world could not hold, the magic called destiny. They didn't know they had already found it. 

Oh, if only the stars could speak.


	2. Oh, How I Wish The Stars Could Speak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I just realised that I completely abandoned this story I'm so sorry  
> but here's a new chapter lol. The next chapter should be up soon, and that will be the last chapter
> 
> While writing this chapter, and starting the next, I realised I really enjoy writing this. I hope others do too :)

_**~Dan~** _

There's a fact Dan read while browsing the internet the other day. A fact that stated that the brain distorts memories the more you think about them. He, being the cynical and scientific based person he is, got scared by this. Thinking about his past, the past with Philly, the little things he thought he remembered, all scared him. But, he tried not to let it get to him. Instead, he embraced it. One day in the future, Dan would be reunited with his childhood friend and all those old memories would be replaced constantly with new ones.

Oh, how Dan couldn't wait for those string of days to occur.

But thinking about childhood Phil soon begun to dwindle down as the current Phil he has now befriended slowly took over his mind. It's been roughly ten months since they first met in that coffee shop. Somewhere in that time, Dan has turned nineteen, but he couldn't remember much about that day besides the fact that Phil had to work overtime, and his loneliness ate away at his energy until he fell asleep early into the night.

It was the day after his birthday that Dan could remember quite vividly. Despite the fact about the memory, he just knows that this memory hadn't been changed in any way. 

 

_"Dan, c'mon, you're going to smell the surprise before you even see it! Hurry up." Phil's pleading voice, accompanied by his joking tone embraced Dan._

_"I'm coming, Phil. Just wait, the blindfold is messing with all my other senses." Dan replied, his voice shaking slightly._

_Before Dan knew it, a pair of comforting hands rested on his body. One hand on his upper back while the other held on to his hand. For some reason, his whole body was filled with electricity, unfamilar tingles shooting through his bones, butterflies set in motion from the bottom of his stomach to the top of his neck, and a small blush on his cheeks._

_That was definitely something Dan wasn't used to. But it was a beautifully terrifying feeling. But that's what life is, isn't it? A beautifully terrifying thing, and so Dan welcomed the feeling._

_"Happy birthday, Dan!" Phil's hushed yelling voice brought an even wider smile to Dan's face._

_Slowly, he took off the blindfold. In front of him were two cupcakes. The vanilla flavoured icing seemed a little off, tilted slightly. On one of the cupcakes, one that had a smiley face etched onto it's wrapping, was a candle. A birthday candle, black and white colours encircling each other, like a childish game of tag, ending at the top where a small flame was dancing._

_"Phil..."_

_It was the only word Dan thought to say. It was the only thing on his mind. Someone cared about him enough to give him a celebration, but also stayed with him long enough for him to blow out the candles._

_Dan, the new nineteen year old, who decided to take on London was brought to tears by a simple act of kindness._

_"Oh, god. Dan, I'm so sorry. Is it not enough? I'm sorry, it was rushed and I had to run because I missed it yesterday, and today was my day off so I wanted to stay with you the whole day and I guess I ruined it because it wasn't a big cake like you're probably used to. Dan, I'm so sorry. You deserve so much more than... Than..." Phil trailed off, trying to comfort Dan, but ending up only staring at him._

_"It's perfect, Phil. Truly, it is. Thank you."_

_Dan put full force into the embrace he gave to Phil. Phil, hit by all of Dan's force, stumbled into the corner of the table, knocking over the cupcakes. Dan didn't care, and fully focused on the arms that wrapped loosely around him._

_A few seconds passed, and the peaceful silence came to a sudden stop as the smell of smoke reached their noses._

_"Oh, shit, Phil!" Dan shouted as he opened his eyes and watched as Phil's tablecloth had caught fire._

_"On it."_

_Dan watched in fear and guilt as Phil got water and poured it all over the fire, stopping it from spreading anywhere else. The fire was now extinguised with the wonderful heroism from Phil Lester the Dan Howell protector._

_"Are you okay, Dan?" Phil said through his ragid breathing, despite him only running ten steps all together._

_"Y-Yeah, I'm okay. I'm sorry I ruined your table cloth. It was a wonderful space cats cloth too." Dan sighed._

_"It's fine, at least you weren't hurt. I'd prefer you to be okay rather than the space cat tablecloth. Sorry about your cupcakes." Phil replied, matching the same tone from Dan._

_"It's okay."_

_They stared at the hole in the tablecloth, and the crisp black aches flaking off._

_"You know what? Let's just go outside and talk until the night sky is in view and we can stare at all of the stars like you love to do all the time." Phil insisted, playfully punching Dan's shoulder lightly._

_"I think I'd love that."_

 

Dan smiled as the rest of the day played out in his mind, no touch of disortion or alteration evident. He rolled over to his side as he still stayed in his bed since three in the afternoon. His hands reached over to the note he kept on his bedside table. 

The paper was starting to becoming dangerously thin, and the pen started to fade a long time ago. But Dan treasured it to the depths of his heart. It meant so much to him, someone out there wanted to see him again. Even if the Phil he was friends with now left him, at least his childhood Phil would stay.

If only they knew where the other was.

Dan got up, and approached his apartment balcony and sat down on the three euro chair he bought. The night sky was cloudy, but the stars could still be seen every now and then. Dan smiled, and held out his fingers to the sky. If he was desperate enough, he could make all the clouds go away. That's the thing with his magic, and possibility of him being able to do things no one else could. He doesn't know the limits to his magic, and he didn't want to find out. 

Instead, Dan held out his hands, palms facing up to the stars. He knew that anyone watching him would be confused and freaked out by him, but to Dan this action meant a lot more. This is what he did at least once a month. 

He imagined himself giving his magic, bit by bit, to the stars. A small wisp of his magic coming out of his fingertips and their light becoming part of the night sky. It was a win-win situation. If Dan could give his magic to the stars, then those who wished upon the stars would have their wishes answered.

But it could never happen, even if it brought Dan to tears every now and then.

**~ _Phil_ ~**

"I can't help but think he's  _Dan,_ Louise. You know, the _Danny._ " Phil stressed to Louise who was currently arranging some bouquets.

Phil's bright blue eyes resembled a storm on the sea. His mind currently in a whirlwind of wonder and hope, yet knowing it shouldn't be. 

"Phil... You thought the Dan you meant two years ago was the same Danny from 12 years ago." Louise whispered to Phil gently, only good intentions in her words yet they still hit his heart.

"I... I know, Louise. But-"

"Phil. When you found out it wasn't him you were utterly broken. I'm not saying not to think about it, I'm just telling you that you shouldn't get your hopes up only to fall on your face and drown in your tears again. Not good for the skin." She spoke, slightly angry but mostly filled with concern.

"I'm sorry, Louise."

"I know."

Silence filled the store, the only sound echoed from the crumpling plastic being tied around a bouquet of flowers. Phil tried to focus on the colours, the way the colours of soft spearmint colours accompanied the light violet colours and so on. But every now and then, his vision would become blurry and his nose runny. 

"Phil?" Louise whispered.

"Y-yeah?" Phil looked up from the flowers and to Louise, but she was blurry too. Only splashes of pink and blonde let him know it was her he was looking at.

"I didn't mean to make you cry..." Phil noticed her voice was breaking too, as if she, too, was going to cry.

"I'm... I'm crying?" He reached up and wiped his eyes, and sure enough they were wet with tears.

Then it all hit him.

He was crying, and crying a lot. The tears weren't beautiful droplets of emotion, they were waterfalls of regret, guilt, and sadness. He knew he shouldn't have his hopes up like this. Over and over again he would built himself up just to be knocked down by the person he believed with all his heart was  _him_.

Phil was staring at the ground, the blurry vision not leaving despite his constant attempts to wipe away his tears and stop crying. He was shaking, then he clenched his fists. Why couldn't Phil find him? Why did Phil feel so incapable of everything, as if he wasn't anything special despite being exactly that? It's not fair. It wasn't fair. Phil knew it wasn't fair that he didn't know whether his childhood friend was alive, yet he had every single piece of hope that he was. He knew it wasn't fair that he had to leave Dan when he was on his death bed. He knew it wasn't fair that all he left Dan was a note with a promise he had failed to keep. 

It all hit Phil, and it mentally knocked him down. With the amount on his shoulders, the switch inside his mind flipped.

"It's not fair." Phil whispered through gritted teeth.

"What?" Louise asked, stepping cautiously towards Phil.

"It's not fair." Phil shouted angrily at Louise. She stepped back, her makeup running down her face and a shocked and scared expression on her face. "I need to find him. Last time I saw him he almost died, God, I'm going mental. I wrote in that note that I'd see him again."

"I promised." Phil's voice broke through the anger. Louise just watched as her friend was losing every piece of sanity he had slowly be destroyed by his own hands.

"The note..." Phil's voice was soft.

"It... It couldn't have been just for nothing..." Phil whispered to no one in particular. Louise started breathing again.

"It couldn't have just been nothing..." Phil looked back down at the palms his hands, his eyes filled with disgust.

"I can't... just be nothing..." Louise stepped closer to Phil.

"I just can't-" Phil's voice rose, but it was cut off by Louise hugging him tightly.

Phil struggled to get out of her grasp, he tried to push her away. He groaned and tried to wriggle out of her tight grasp, but Louise showed no sign of letting go at all. Phil was angry, at everything, at himself, at Louise, at the world. 

"Let. Go. Louise." He commanded, but she didn't budge. 

Her head stayed buried in Phil's chest and her arms were still tightly clamped down to Phil's sides. 

"I'm not letting go, Phil." Louise's muffled voice said.

Phil continued to struggle, not noticing Louise's nails digging into Phil's back as she tried her hardest to keep him down. 

A few minutes of struggling silence passed and Phil started to calm down. First it was his jaw that unclenched, then it was his fist. Then soon his arms fell slack on his side, and then his knees gave way and he was kneeling on the floor, leaning against an also kneeling Louise. Just like his mind, Phil's muscle just stopped fighting. His head was resting face down on Louise's shoulder, her shirt capturing every tear that continued to fall from his eyes.

The whimpers and sobs grew softer, and it was all that could be heard throughout the whole store.

"I just want to find him." Phil breathed.

Louise could barely hear him, and so Phil started to believed he had actually said it in his mind. But Phil didn't notice Louise stiffen at the clear desperation screaming through his barely audible words, and Phil, too occupied by trying to sort out his own thoughts, didn't hear Louise's soft voice saying, "I do too."

_**~Dan~** _

"Hey, Phil. Tell me something weird and cool." Dan quetly whispered.

Dan's arms were foldly underneath his head, and his body was laying down on the grass he grew familiar with. He shifted slightly to turn to look at Phil. 

Phil's blue, green, yellow eyes had the reflection of the whole cloudless night sky in them. Something familiar punched Dan in the stomach, but he shrugged it off. He turned back to face the stars that seemed to be trying to communicate to him. Dan didn't notice that Phil had turned to watch the stars twinkle in his eyes.

"Hmm... Do you want it to be about anything in particular?"

A few seconds of silence passed before Dan said no.

The wind blew, and it made Dan shiver slightly. The top of the hill was merciless with the wind, even with the trees surrounding them, the wind weaved its way so perfectly it hit both of them with a gust of coldness.

"Let's talk about the universe. Why do you think some of us have magic, while others don't?" Dan whispered, unsure of how Phil would take the topic of magic since they both agreed not to speak of it.

Phil looked at Dan immediately, but instead of a look of fondness, it was surprise and he searched every part of Dan's face for a speck of a joke in it, but he found nothing. Before Phil could open his mouth to answer, Dan cut him off.

"I'm sorry. I know we agreed not to talk about the magic, I just thought this would be okay because it wasn't personal or anything. You don't need to answer. We can talk about something else, just tell me." Dan spoke quickly, and Phil struggled to get every word but he had the general idea.

"No no, it's okay. We can talk about anything. I'm pretty comfortable with you."

Dan's stomach flipped. It had been doing a lot of that lately, Dan noticed, and it was always just around Phil. He just noticed how his heart had started pounding against his chest when his eyes met Phil's. 

"Okay." Dan said, hoping his nervous attitude didn't show.

"I think the world kind of sucks, you know?" Phil started off. Dan looked at Phil with eyes filled with concern and sadness. "I mean, only in that regard. It's okay. I just think it's unfair that others have magic while others don't."

Dan nodded and looked back to the stars, and he started counting in his mind. 

_"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight..."_  He started off in his mind.

"My parent don't have magic, so they had to learn everything about it from everyone around them." Dan said with a quiet voice, remembering their faces drop as he told them he was moving out. "They told me how the universe chooses who is magic or not, as if the constant research of the scientists had always come to a failure. It makes sense though, there's no secret gene for magic. It's just placed upon you. Then you don't know if you have it until you go to the doctors and they pull a hair on your head and if it regrows immediately."

Dan was listening to Phil, but looking at the stars. Then he wondered what the difference was.

_"...nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen..."_

"They were happy for me when they were told I had magic. I always thought they were jealous, as if the universe decided that my life held something important, and they were just on the sidelines." Dan noticed Phil's voice going softer, and he opened his mouth to stop him if it was too much, but Phil spoke again. "I asked them if they were jealous one day. They were shocked, and stared at me, but then they smiled. They said no."

_"...sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty one, twenty two, twenty three..."_

The pause of silence seemed to drag longer and longer, but Dan didn't respond. He knew better. Phil was thinking, maybe too much, and he didn't want to interrupt him. Instead he waited, and watched the stars twinkle, as if winking to him in a way that made him feel uneasy yet safe. 

_"...twenty four, twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine, thirty, thirty one..."_

"They told me that the universe chose me for something, but I don't think it did." Phil's voice was incredibly quiet. Dan strained his ears just to catch the words that spilled from Phil's mouth. "I don't really feel any special, and my magic doesn't suggest anything extraordinary either." Dan pretended he didn't notice the hesitation in his voice at the last seven words.

_"...thirty two, thirty three, thirty four, thirty five, thirty six, thirty seven, thirty eight, thirty nine, forty..."_

"The one thing this universe got right though, is the way no one discriminates against each other for whether they had magic or not." Phil's voice was louder now, and had a touch of confidence. Dan could hear the sides of his mouth go up in a smile. "I had a lot of friends when I was younger, both magic and not. We were equals, even if we weren't, we made sure it was."

_"...forty one, forty two, forty three, forty four, forty five, forty six, forty seven..."_

"Those who had magic wouldn't use it, or one the rare occasions, all of us would pretend those who didn't have magic actually did. We'd stand behind them and control the water to the same movements my friends did, and then for a second they'd feel like they're magical. I wish I could go back to those days really."

_"...forty eight, forty nine, fifty, fifty one, fifty two, fifty three, fifty four, fifty five..."_

Dan kept counting while listening to Phil's story. He tried to keep the butterflies in his stomach tame and his racing heart slow down, but nothing worked and so he kept counting. 

_"...fifty six..."_

"I have a question for you, Dan." Phil said slowly and softly. 

_"...fifty seven..."_

"Yeah?" Dan held up his left hand to the sky, palms face up.

_"...fifty eight..."_

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but..." Phil trailed off. Dan waited and he imagined his magic, trails of lights coming from his chest and leaving him through the fingertips and being given to the stars above.

_"...59..."_

"Do you ever wish you never had magic?" 

Dan's thoughts were cut off, he didn't think about the butterflies in his stomach, or his racing heart, or his shivering body, or the way his hands suddenly froze, he didn't care about of them. His head faced Phil and he looked at him with shock and surprise. The agreement had definitely been broken and Dan wasn't sure if he was okay with that. What would Phil do if he found out his secret? To be so powerful and change things no other magical person could do? Would Phil manipulate him to do his wishes?

Of course not. Dan shook the thought out of his mind. This is Phil, the Phil who had been an angel to him for the whole time he knew him, despite his quirks, Dan knew he could trust him. After all, Dan had started to fall for the blue-eyed, black-haired person.

"Every day of my life, actually." Dan responded softly.

At that moment, the wind blew and leaves fell around them. Phil's blue eyes looked into Dan's brown eyes and Dan could swear his words were carried by the wind and Phil heard nothing. But Phil's eyes were filled with a certain comfort that didn't make sense. It was as if Phil had looked into Dan's soul, but not in an intruding way, more like with care and gentleness, and he didn't feel vulnerable anymore. If he wanted to, Dan could open up completely to Phil and he knew that he would take care of him.

"Me too." Phil whispered in the same hushed tone of Dan.

_**~Phil~** _

"Hey, Louise?" Phil called out to the back of the store. It was closing time for the shop and the sun had set hours ago.

"Yeah, Phil?" She called in reply from the back of the store.

Phil pulled down the final blind of the windows and started walking to where Louise was. The shelves filled with small house plants, the rows of bouquets on the side of the walls, and the cards that had flower puns on it were comforting and quiet, none of it felt violent. He saw Louise and she was taking off her work apron. 

"Good work today. I have a question though." Phil said while taking off his work apron as well.

"Sure, ask away." Louise replied, looking through the mirror to check her makeup was up to par.

"How... Um. So when I get around this person, my heart races, my voice seems caught in my throat, my breathing quickens, and I get a whole lot of butterflies in my stomach. Does this mean anything?" Phil asked softly. 

He already had an idea of what it meant, but he needed to be sure. It could all go horribly wrong if he wasn't sure. He's had small crushes here and there, but these symptoms were far more stronger than he has ever felt it.

"I'd say you liked them. Haven't you had that before though, Phil? Like, a crush?" Louise carefully asked.

"Of course I have, but what I'm feeling, what I told you, it seems a lot stronger than that. I don't know what it is, but I think it's more than a crush." Phil was looking at Louise completely now, and she was looking at him too.

"Are you in love with someone?"

Phil's voice got caught in his throat. He hadn't thought of that, frankly, he hadn't got time to think much at all.

"Oh my goodness." Phil said to no one in particular as he realised his feelings.

"Am I honestly in love with Dan?" Phil thought loudly in his head.

He didn't notice the words coming out of his mouth, nor the small twitch of a smile on Louise's lips.

_**~Dan~** _

It's been three months since Phil brought up magic in a conversation. Dan's noticed that he has avoided the topic, and he understands why. Perhaps his magic is something extraordinary as well, or maybe it's so ordinary that it drowns him. Dan has known Phil for eleven months now, and he's been spending almost every day with him, whether it's for five minutes after he closes his shop, or for hours on end on the days he isn't working.

Dan was laying down on his bed, thin paper crumpled in his hand, the messy handwriting of an eight year old fading within the invisible lines formed by ink. Dan felt like he was cheating in some sort of way, as if the Phil from back then would show himself at any moment and yell at him for 'replacing' him, but it's not what Dan felt like he was doing. Instead, Dan finally started to feel free, and not bound by the chains he himself put on. Dan knew he wouldn't ever forget about the Phil from back then, but he also knew that the Phil from back then wouldn't want him to not focus on the Phil from right now.

"Philip Lester of now," Dan whispered to the ceiling and his four walls, "Sunshine hidden in black hair and blue eyes, soft and gentle hands that shake when he's nervous, a man who plays with his trembling fingers when he's excited or scared, who bites his tongue in between his teeth when he laughs, sometimes covers it with his hands as if the world says, 'You can't see it all the time, it's too precious.'" 

Dan smiled, and he kept a mental note of everything he muttered from his mouth. He wondered too, if the walls, the floor, and the ceiling kept everything he said out loud like a treasured thought. 

"Philly Phil of back then," Dan whispered again, "Light brown hair, blue eyes that held so much more light than a kid could ever wish to hold, tried to clear the sky and ended up bringing out small fireflies from... his... fingertips..." Dan trailed off. He thought about that for a moment, confused. All his life, from the magicals of the past to these in the present, he had known not of someone who could ever produce life from their magic. Then he shot up in his bed, the bed let out a croaky groan as it, too, was shocked. 

"Okay, Dan, think." Dan rested his chin on his clenched fist as he tried to place himself in Phil's shoes, which wasn't really that difficult. "If Phil has a power that no one else knows, that means he would hate his magic like I did, and he wouldn't tell anybody."

"The Phil from now," Dan thought to himself, the silence of the room was non existent to Dan and his racing mind. "Didn't want to talk about his magic."

Dan lay back down on his bed, and stared at the ceiling before softly saying, "What if the Phil now, is the Phil from back then?" 

A few seconds of deafening silence met with Dan's ears, then he started laughing, then crying, then more laughing, and more crying.

"No, it couldn't be." Dan said though his tears of laughter. "I'm trying to join imaginary dots together."

It's been a week since Dan thought about the Phil from back then and the Phil from now, and he's started to forget about his theory. Another thing he's also forgotten is the fact that from that night, the crumpled note he held so dearly to his heart had been hiding safely behind his bedroom desk, and he hasn't noticed it's absence.

Dan and Phil were walking down an unfamilar street filled with tents covered in all types of colours. For once, Dan wasn't blending into the background, instead Phil was. Dan's all black outfit popped out against the all colourful surrounding. A festival planned for some sort of occasion was currently happening, and it was slightly intimidating.

"Hey, Dan, look! A psychic, let's go to it please please please please..." Phil kept begging Dan, who was still trying not to be blinded by all the colours. 

After about ten 'please's' from Phil, Dan nodded. In a world of magic, a psychic is rare. But still the crystal ball and the gigantic head piece that made Dan's neck strain in pain made him wonder why they're not completely gone. However, magic does have it's limits, per say, and showing the future is definitely one of them. But to know someone's past, too, is rare. But the only thing Dan knows is rare, his whole life revolves around the word, "rare" and "extraordinary."

The lady welcomed them into her tent, her glazed eyes showed more interest in Dan than to Phil, but Phil didn't notice as Dan saw his eyes scan each and every little trinket within the small tent. Despite Dan and Phil's height, the top of the tent seemed miles away which did not reflect the tent they saw and walked in to only moments ago.

_**~Phil~** _

In the middle of the tent, there was a small table accompanied by three chairs. One chair facing the other two, and Phil wondered how she knew that they would need two chairs instead of one. He raised an eyebrow to Dan who seemed to be wondering the same thing, and Dan shrugged, not having any idea either.

"Come, sit," The lady said as she gestured towards the two chairs left as her butt now occupied the third.

Her voice was soft and silky, but gentle and careful as well, as if she new her words meant a lot to others instead of some silly facade others would believe they were. Phil smiled at her, remembering his grandmother who, too, seemed to have some sort of psychic ability. He wondered if the lady before him knew that he held some sort of psychic ability as well. 

Phil sat down immediately, and showed his immense excitement, then looked over to Dan who seemed to be wary and unsure of the whole thing. He just shook his head with a smile, knowing that Dan cynical outlook on life would take away the fun from the psychic that sat infront of them.

"I'm Melie," Melie said. 

Phil noted how her dark skin worked perfectly with the purple headpiece that wrapped around her from the bottom of her neck to the top of her head, the golden thread woven into the lavender fabric seemed to be going all over the place, but the more Phil looked at it, the more the pattern showed itself. 

"I'm Dan, and he's Phil." Dan said, pointing to himself then to Phil.

Phil held out his right hand for a handshake, but instead of receiving a hand shake, two hands held his hand with his palm facing up. Melie looked intensely at the palm as if it held all the secrets of the world. But Melie wasn't doing anything else but staring, no fingers traced along his palm, and Phil noticed this, and looked at Dan confused.

Time became non existent for Phil. When Melie finally looked away from his palm, it felt as if no time had passed yet all of time had passed as well. Melie slowly let go of Phil's hand and smiled at Phil. Phil felt like Dan suddenly wasn't there with him anymore. Phil, still looking at Melie, reached his hand out to Dan who held it tightly. 

"The question you ask everyday has already been answered," Phil tried to swallow the lump he had in his throat. "You already knew this though, but the answer scares you, doesn't it?" Melie's voice had stayed the same, but it seemed as if her gentleness had been replaced with careless curiosity. "The person in question has a secret too, Philip, and the future has been paved by your past. I would tell you not to run away, but I already know you've kept your ground." Melie winked at Phil knowingly.

"Phil, too tight, it hurts." Phil jerked out of the state he didn't know he was in. 

His head snapped to Dan who was trying to let go of Phil's hand by wriggling his fingers. Phil saw it, his hand had a deadly grip on Dan's and in shock, he let go slowly. "I'm so sorry, Dan. Are you okay?" He spoke softly, ducking his head down slightly to level with Dan's eyes.

"Yeah, I'm okay now." Dan smiled a ten out of ten smile, and Phil's heart skipped a beat. 

Dan and Phil turned their heads back to face Melie, but Melie had her chin resting on both of her hands and was smiling goofily at them. Phil suddenly felt odd, knowing that she knew how he felt about the person beside him.

Dan put out his right hand and Melie reached out with both hands, then stopped and frowned. "You put out the wrong hand, Daniel. You're left handed." Phil looked at Dan the exact same time Dan looked at Phil, and their eyes showed shock, confusion, and a little bit of amazement.

"Uhm... Sorry..?" Dan muttered, bringing out his left hand for Melie to look at.

Phil looked at Dan, and saw that he was mesmerised by the staring that Melie had on Dan's palm. Just as she had done with Phil, she didn't move, but only stared. Dan too, was staring, then his eyes seemed to fade from focusing on Melie, to something much more distant. Dan's right hand, the furthest away from Dan seemed to twitch. 

Phil held his hand, their fingers entertwining and it made Phil's breath catch in his throat and his heart started racing.

After about ten minutes of silence, Melie looked up from Dan's palm and Dan's eyes focused back on her. Phil wondered if Dan noticed he moved a little, but Dan's grip on Phil's hand grew tighter.

Melie opened her mouth, and words that only meant something to Dan came out. "You've lost something from your past, and soon it shall be replaced." Her voice seemed to go back to the gentleness she showed them at first, but to Dan it was something else because his grip grew even tighter. "The thing you're most afraid of will become the reason for your utmost happiness, Daniel, so share your deepest thoughts with the one you trust. You're starting to forget something very important." 

Dan's grip was too tight. Phil felt the circulation in his hand stop, and it hurt so much. "D-Dan, let go." He muttered, trying to wriggle his fingers out of Dan's grasp.

Dan seemed to jump at the sound of Phil's voice, and he snapped his head right at him. Dan looked at Phil's suffering hand, then immediately let go. 

"Oh fuck, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Dan asked, concern dripping from his voice.

"Yeah, I'm alright now." Phil gave Dan a small smile that he returned. 

Phil leaned back to his seat, massaging his hand.

Dan seemed to be deep in thought, and concentrating hard on the words she said. Melie, too, seemed unsettled, as if the words she said were the wrong ones and she wasn't sure whether the future had drastically changed from what she expected or wanted. Phil seemed to be the only one not hanging onto her words for dear life, but that didn't mean he wasn't thinking about them. "The person in question has a secret too," Phil thought. Does it mean Dan was hiding something? Maybe it was about the magic he had since that topic was dubbed taboo from the start?

After a few moments of silence, Melie got up and showed them the way out, which really was just another hole in the tent on the other side. Before they left, Dan got out his wallet and asked Melie how much the reading was.

Melie smiled at the both of them and shook her head. "The universe will find a price, then find a way you pay it."

With that, she disappeared into the tent. Dan just gave Phil a very confused look and Phil just shrugged and laughed it off. "Psychics, am I right?" He could only say as they turned around to face a whole festival left for them.

Phil pushed the thoughts about the reading to the back of his mind, and tried to have as much fun as he could with Dan at the festival. 

A hundred stalls, five lost games, two won candies, and twelve laughing fits later, they decided to call it a day. 

Dan got out his wallet to pay for one more churro until he realised he had lost one of his five pound notes. "Uhh... Phil?" He asked. 

"Yeah? What's wrong?" Phil responded.

"I lost one of my five pound notes." 

Phil got out his own wallet and looked through what money he had left. 

"I lost one of mine too!?" Phil exclaimed in shock. 

Phil smiled to himself as Dan started tracing back all of his spendings. "Dan, I think that's how much the universe believed we needed to pay for the reading."

He watched as Dan facepalmed himself then chuckled. "Of fucking course it was." 

Phil could've listened to Dan's laugh for the rest of his life, and he'd die happily.

_**~Dan~** _

Dan still wasn't sure what it is he had forgotten. God, how infuriating that woman was, not being able to say anything straight up, instead sounding like she was reciting a riddle. Dan thought about her words often, but it seemed to dwindle down a bit. It had been three weeks since he had been told that his magic, the thing he fears most, would bring him utmost happiness. He didn't understand any bit of it, and he was incredibly thankful that Phil didn't press on whatever she said. 

Dan, however, did wonder what question he had been asking for so long. He wondered what was going through his mind as she read his past, present, and future.

But the words that circled him almost everyday were the ones that said he had replaced something from his past. Did that mean Phil? Was Phil from the past now being replaced by Phil from the now? It couldn't mean anything else, right? 

Dan tried to silence his thoughts as he locked his door behind him and went down the stairs of his apartment place. He walked out the front door and was greeted by the cool wind of the night. He breathed and his breath was a mist that faded into nothing. 

"Hey, Dan." He heard the familiar soft honey dipped voice.

"Hey, Phil. Let's go?" He asked as he turned around and saw Phil.

Phil smiled a smile worth all of the star in the night sky above him, and Dan stared, perhaps for a bit longer than he intended to because Phil was now clicking his finger in front of Dan's face.

The day passes, and before they know it, they're sitting at the top of the hill at the park that reminds Dan of the last time he saw Phil from his childhood. Dan wishes he could hold on to that moment and relive it forever, but he knows he can't. What he didn't know was that Phil was thinking the same thing.

Dan stares at the sky, the clouds covering some stars, but others are blinking and saying hello to the people who found so much fascination within them. The silence surrounds the two of them, so Dan looks, and starts counting. Soft mumbles escape his mouth as he counts. As he reaches 59, Phil interrupts him, and asks, "Why do you stop at the number 59? Do you not know sixty?" His voice, Dan notices, is both joking and serious.

"I don't know why. I guess it's just a habit of mine. Ever since I was young I remember just counting to that one star, the 59th star. That's why 59 is my favourite number." Dan says quietly.

"I see." Phil whispers back quietly. 

A few moments pass, the twinkling stars above them seeming to shine a little bit more brighter than usual. 

"Hey, Phil. Tell me a story."

**_~Phil~_ **

This story might sound all too familiar to me.

"In a world filled with magic, each unique to those who own it, and to those who don't, there is a boy named Jason. Jason's power was different from all the others he knew of. Growing up, learning about the restrictions and limits of magic, he started to understand what it could do. He could look for the remote by having the couch hover above him, or he could get his laptop without moving his bed. That's the extent he knew it to be." Phil started, shifting uncomfortably on the grass as he stared at the night sky.

"But one day, the closest thing to him was sick, very sick, and almost on the verge of dying." Phil's voice was straining, and he knew it. He hoped Dan wasn't noticing.

"Oh god, I hope it's not a dog." Dan whispered, totally enthralled in the story.

"Oh my goodness, no. I would never do that, Dan, even in a fictional story." Phil laughed, and soon Dan joined in. 

"Continue," Dan said as his laughter quieted down. "Sorry for the interruption."

"It's okay," Phil said, smiling at Dan's face as he watched the stars for the millionth time that night.

"His plant was dying, and his parents told him to leave it. 'The world is full of death, but it's filled with life too.' They said. But Jason couldn't understand. The brown leaves gathering around the grass that surrounded his friend. The shrinking sizes of the branches that used to be like arms to hold him. Jason couldn't imagine it all leaving him." Phil stopped as he heard sniffles coming from Dan's direction.

"Are... Are you crying?" Phil asked in disbelief.

"No," Dan sniffled. "Just cold from the wind. Of course, I'm crying. Jason had a plant as a friend, and it was leaving him. He used to hug the plant! How can I not cry?" Dan explained quickly, trying to hide his face.

Phil smiled sadly, and continued. "But one day, as the last leaf fell from the plant, he wished. He wished with all his might, for the plant to come back. He closed his eyes, stretched out his arms towards the plant, and focused everything he had in bringing the plant back to life. And when he opened his eyes, he saw healthy branches, and leaves at the tips." Phil finished. 

Dan sighed beside him, and Phil wondered if the story was boring. 

"I'm glad it ended that way, but I've never heard of magic being able to bring back something. I guess some people do wish to be extraordinary." Dan whispered, his voice getting softer with each word. 

"Hey, Dan, that story wasn't a wish." Phil sat up, crossed his legs, and hunched over, playing with his thumbs nervously.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Dan asked, looking at Phil's suddenly small structure.

The grass suddenly wasn't annoying Phil anymore. In fact, he would've written a whole 24 page essay on why grass was amazing if it meant he could rewind time and take back his last few words.

"I mean..." Phil trailed off, and stared at Dan. 

Phil's eyes bore into Dan's, and looked for anything that told him that he couldn't be trusted, that his complete and utter faith in him was going to be a mistake, that their friendship was glass and his past would be the rock to smash into it, but he couldn't find any of it.

All Phil saw in those eyes were comfort, concern, and support.

Phil looked up, looked at that one star that had been there through his darkest days, and wished for the strength to tell his story.

"There was a time, in my past," Phil whispered, his breath visibly dancing with the cool air. "When something I really cared about was dying, um, in fact, he did die." Phil clenched his eyes closed, afraid to even get dirty looks from the grass on the hill they were sitting on. 

Phil felt a hand on his shoulder, filled with comfort, and it stabilised his mind for a second.

"And I don't know what came over me, but..." His hands grips on his shirt, a defensive stace linked with his obvious vulnerability. "I, somehow, used my magic to bring him back. His heart started beating again, when only moments ago it had stopped. Dan, I don't know if he even made it, the doctors said it was a faint heartbeat. They said he only had three more days to recover, even in the slightest bit, or they'd let him go. Dan... I was only 10. I didn't know what was wrong back then. But I do know. People like us, people with magic, we aren't meant to bring things back from the dead, but I did, and I still do!"

"Holy shit, Phil..." Dan started, but was cut off before he could finish.

"I'm a terrible person when it comes to taking care of plants. My plants die almost every month. You know what I do? I bring them back, because I'm lonely, and all I have are damn plants and the people I work with, at a bloody plant store!" Phil whispers loudly, angry at himself, but still hesitant to admit it.

"I'm weird, and I'm wrong, and I wish I could take my magic away." Phil says, covering his face and muffling his words slightly. Tears started running down from his hands to his elbows.

Dan's hands stayed on Phil's shoulder, but he kept quiet. Phil was thankful for that, because he knew he wouldn't be able to do anything, not while he was like this.

Minutes passed, and soon the sniffles occured less and less.

"I'm sorry for putting all of that on you right now, Dan." Phil says, his voice so quiet that the wind almost takes it away. 

"It's okay, Phil. I want to tell you something about myself too." Dan says with a smile. 

"That damn smile," Phil thinks to himself as he nods a reply. "How I want to protect it forever."

**_~Dan~_ **

"When I was younger, I had a friend who I absolutely adored." Dan starts, hesitation slightly seeping through his words. "It was his last day in Wokingham, so we spent the whole day together before he had to leave. The stars... I think.. I think the stars weren't out that day, the clouds were hogging them from us, the naive stupid kids we were tried to use our magic to change the sky." 

Dan pretends not to notice the subtle shift in composure of Phil beside him.

"He tried first, I think, and it only turned to fireflies. He was so disappointed, that I could remember. Then it was my turn, I thought it was going to be a lot less than my friend's magic. As if the only thing that would come out of my fingertips were a spark. But no... It wasn't. It was a blinding beam, it only lasted half a second at most, but it happened. Like a lightning bolt. And then the sky cleared... But then my memory gets fuzzy after that." Dan pauses, trying to remember anything, even a small peek into the past, but nothing works.

"I wonder if it made him happy. I miss him, you know. All I was left with was a note." Dan trails off, and whispers to the stars instead to himself or to Phil. "We used to have nicknames too. Now that I look back on it, it was kind of cringey, but that's how we were. His nickname was Philly, funny, right?" Dan looks at Phil, who has a distant look in his eyes. "And mine? My nickname was-"

"Danny." Phil says with a smile, a childlike smile, an innocent one with laughter bursting at the sides.

Dan laughs softly. "How'd you know?" A small piece of hope turned into big flames as he was one step closer to discovering if this Phil was his one.

"Well, if his nickname was Philly, then it only makes sense yours is Danny." Phil laughs with Dan. 

Dan's smile falters, and he hopes Phil didn't see it. In fact, everything about Dan falters, and falls, and breaks. 

"But also," Phil starts up again. "Because I was the one to give you that nickname, Danny."

Dan's world suddenly stops around him, not literally, but it feels like it. It feels like everything had stopped, and started to move in incredibly slow motion. Dan looked into Phil's eyes, and all he saw was his memories of twelve years ago. The same eyes filled with happiness and childlike wonder, but also with new things that seemed to dull out the colour slightly. 

Dan couldn't think of anything else to do besides hug Phil tightly, and that's exactly what he did. Arms wrapped around Phil so tightly he was afraid he would kill him, and once that thought popped into his head, he backed away immediately.

"No fucking way," Dan whispered loudly. 

"I can't believe it. I thought at first, but then I shooed the idea away, but now you just confirmed it with your story!" Phil replied. 

Now it was Dan's turn to be hugged tightly to a breathless pain.

"I've missed you so much, Dan. So freaking much," Phil said, tears forming in his eyes.

"I've missed you too, Phil. You have no idea," Dan replied, his tears staining Phil's shirt.

But then something clicks in Dan's head. "Wait... I died?"

Phil freezes and pulls away relectantly to look at Dan in the eyes, despite the blurry vision they both had, they kept their gaze on each other.

"You died, Dan... You were dead. And all I could think to do was bring you back, and somehow I did."

"You saved me..." Dan quietly says, his hand on the cheek of Phil.

"My magic did." Phil corrects.

"I don't care, it's still your magic, it's still you, and I..." Dan started, then looks right at the ground. "l-like... you."

"W-wait, you like me? Like  _like_  me?" Phil said, no bother in hiding the shock in his voice.

"Yes, I do. Phil, god, I really do like you." Dan said, looking back up into Phil's eyes. 

The blurry vision may have left, but it was quickly coming back. Dan's heart started to break as his rejection was imminent.

"I'm so happy," Phil whispered as he leant forward to hug Dan. "I like you too, Dan, so much. You're so amazing, and I'm so glad I found you again, even though I thought you were a different Dan, I still fell for you. And if somehow you could rewind time with your magic, I would still fall for you, over and over again."

Dan sighed happily, and his heart finally took a break. He leant into Phil's touch, and instantly felt safe and complete. They stayed like that for what felt like forever, and they were happy with it. Dan was the first to pull away from the hug, one question burning in his mind as his courage was both growing and decreasing as time went on.

"Um, so, Phil... C-can, I mean, will you.. um... Will you be my boyf-" Phil's voice cut him off.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Ten thousand times yes. I will gladly be your boyfriend."

Dan's smile put the moon to shame, the stars in the night sky won second best compared to the sparks of happiness in his eyes.

"Um... Can... Can I kiss you, Phil?"

"I think I'd love that."

He smiles before closing the gap between them.

Dan's hand resting on Phil's cheek, the other hand on the grass keeping him upright. Phil's hands were both on Dan's shoulders, keeping him balanced as his clumsiness would definitely be his downfall right now if they were anywhere else. The kiss was quick, a second at most, but it was enough to seal the deal. Their feelings only grew from there.

And for some reason, they both stared at the stars reflecting in each other's eyes. Counting in his mind, the stars' reflection in Phil's eyes, and was finally able to do something he wasn't able to for a long time.

"...fifty seven...

fifty eight...

59...

_sixty."_


End file.
